Masterclass with Presto Arts

What an absolutely brilliant time at the Art of Voice Festival Masterclass hosted by the wonderful team at Presto Arts! We spent the day diving deep into the art and science of singing, and I was so incredibly impressed by the dedication and talent of every participant, including the focused Chinese students.

Today’s big lesson: Focus is everything. The best way to conserve energy and increase clarity is not to push, but to narrow your focus. As I told one talented singer, the goal is to make the sound more direct, more strong—the picture is more clear when it's focused, always!

We worked extensively on technical "magic tricks," especially masking the register breaks so we hear seamless lines instead of sudden changes. This takes precision, knowing when to bow up and when to bow down, and manipulating the vowels to serve the text. For our mezzo, we dove into jealousy and finding those inner colors; and for our elegant soprano, we talked about making accents subtle and maintaining that exquisite French elegance.

Thank you to all the students for trusting me and absorbing the advice—you truly have gifts, and I appreciate your hard work!

Here are a few insightful quotes from Lisette during the masterclass:

• "The best way to conserve energy when you're tired is to put everything in general into more focus Focus."

• "Your job is to pull the trick us at the magic trick."

• "You have a gift You absolutely if you really all of you guys are brilliant Every one of you has something special and incredible and unique..."

• "We have to take every single phrase and say 'Why is this phrase so hard how can I make it easier?'"